Wave power to be put to use in California

It looks like California could be getting at least some of its electricity from a decidedly more environmentally-friendly source relatively soon, as Pacific Gas & Electric has announced that it's teamed with Finavera Renewables to put a so-called "wave farm" into use off the coast near California's Humboldt County. That will apparently generate 2 megawatts of electricity and offset some 245 tons of carbon dioxide annually, although not before 2012, when it is "ideally" set to be put into motion. Helping the farm churn out all that electricity is Finavera's Aquabuoy (pictured at right), which drives an underwater piston as it bobs up and down that, in turn, pressurizes a chamber that cranks a turbine to generate the power. What's more, as CNET reports, if the initial deployment proves successful, Finavera says it could eventually crank things up to a full 100 megawatts, while still keeping the farm within a few square miles on the sea.

[daedalus @ Dec 18th 2007 5:41PM]

Fluid Karma?

[David Hildreth @ Dec 18th 2007 5:55PM]

exactly what I was thinking

[daedalus @ Dec 18th 2007 6:04PM]

@David

Just dont let two identical souls shake hands... or else the fourth dimension will collapse in on itself... ... you stupid bitch.

[The Liberal Elite @ Dec 18th 2007 5:50PM]

NOT IN MY BACKYARD!

[mrpaco @ Dec 18th 2007 6:07PM]

And why the hell not?

[BigBirdUK @ Dec 18th 2007 6:14PM]

Because he'll drown trying to complain. Hopefully.

[The Real Liberal Elite @ Dec 18th 2007 6:20PM]

Quiet you. I'll take this over mercury in my oceans any day.

[Cairn @ Dec 18th 2007 6:21PM]

I live in Humboldt County so this is in my back yard and I say, "yes, please!"

This area is really keen on renewable energy so I think it will go over pretty well.

[The Dude @ Dec 18th 2007 6:27PM]

It's the reaction people, especially those multi-million dollar home-owning bitches on the coast, are bound to have. Celebrities telling me to ride a bike to work or carpool when they drive SUVs/sports/muscle cars that get shit to the gallon, fuck you! They were talking wind power here off the California coast not too long ago but oh-noes...it ruins the view for the expensive estate owners. Fucking seriously. From the picture, they're probably visible from the beach--especially if there's groups of these Aquaboys.

[Cairn @ Dec 18th 2007 6:44PM]

@ The Dude: Clearly you haven't been to Humboldt County. God forbid the Aquabouy distract the folks trying to enjoy the lovely view of the pulp mill and (coal) power plant as they mingle with the burnouts on the jetty.

Seriously though, there's a lot of beautiful coastline here, but very little of it is inhabited (they don't call it the "Lost Coast" for nothing). They'll probably install these right off the coast from the existing power plant which already obstructs any view of the ocean.

[The Dude @ Dec 18th 2007 6:50PM]

@Cairn: Ha, I guess it would be a welcomed change over there. Here in SoCal though, where idiots don't feel the direct impact of power production and hence possess no sense of urgency or obligation to embrace renewable energy, it wouldn't be seen as the lesser of two evils. It'd just be evil.

[BigD145 @ Dec 18th 2007 7:16PM]

@The Dude: When you can see through the smog and spot the tide generators, let me know. For the region around Morro Bay, please remove the offshore rigs.

[Kappy @ Dec 18th 2007 7:18PM]

Um, maybe because this is not an environmentally friendly idea. These "wave farms" can cause all sorts of unnatural tidal affects, which lead to premature erosion and damage to coastal eco-systems such as tide pools and reefs.

[shawn @ Dec 19th 2007 2:20PM]

Kappy: "Um, maybe because this is not an environmentally friendly idea. These "wave farms" can cause all sorts of unnatural tidal affects, which lead to premature erosion and damage to coastal eco-systems such as tide pools and reefs."

Uh, how? For starters, they aren't really "wave" as much as "swell" generators. They're just a buoy on a cable, not too different from the thousands and thousands of buoys already deployed around the world. How does something so relatively tiny on top of a huge swell have *any* affect on the swell itself or the tides, which are based on _lunar_ activity? If things floating a mile or more off-shore could affect the coastline that much there would be restrictions on the number of boats allowed in the water at any given time.

[bdandy @ Dec 18th 2007 6:15PM]

i think that initially, more carbon is going to be put into the air while building the structure than is going to be reclaimed. and we should have done this years ago; italy has had wave farms a long while back.

[BigBirdUK @ Dec 18th 2007 6:19PM]

That is a bit unhelpful. All these renewable devices will kick up a carbon debit initially - the name of the game is long term payback once installed. Care to calculate how much carbon debt a nuclear powerstation will generate during the build stage?

[Ignatius @ Dec 18th 2007 6:50PM]

If the wave power only does produce 2 megawatts, then the carbon emissions would be useless compared to the power of the US's biggest nuclear power plant, which produces nearly 650 times more power safely.

[Magallanes @ Dec 19th 2007 3:28PM]

You can put a feet on Hiroshima and even in the zero zone without risk of radioactivity but you cannot go to Chernovil, not at least for the next 2000 years.

So, a nuclear reactor is a pretty dangerous tools way over that a nuclear missile.

[Ignatius @ Dec 21st 2007 7:56AM]

Because Chernobyl was a pristinely operated and built facility with the newest and best qualified operators.

Oh wait, it was a partially-contained nuclear reaction, along with coal-plant workers maintaining the facility while uneducated workers attempted an unauthorized experiment in the dead of night, resulting in a meltdown. Then they decided to block it up with an aging concrete barrier and allowed unprotected firefighters to douse the blazing structures.

Three Mile Island had several mechanical gauge failures, which were due to the age of the plant, that told the workers that coolant was flooding the reactor, which in reality, it was seeping out. The workers then relied on those gauges and pumped out all coolant, resulting in a partial meltdown that did not release enough radiation particles to cause any damage to workers or those who live nearby.

[telee @ Dec 18th 2007 6:18PM]

Why stop at 100 megawatts when you can have...1.21 GIGAWATTS??

[BigBirdUK @ Dec 18th 2007 6:21PM]

With what? explain?

[amfs @ Dec 18th 2007 6:31PM]

back to the future kiddo

[tikirob @ Dec 18th 2007 6:46PM]

Ouch!

[Jai Ferguson @ Dec 18th 2007 6:31PM]

Jai Ferguson with Finavera Renewables here. If interested in seeing the device in action, take a look at this YouTube clip. It's of the test device that was deployed in September.


http://youtube.com/watch?v=z_rjYabpiYo&feature=related

[kev @ Dec 18th 2007 7:28PM]

Me, I want to know what the solar panels are for. if they're generating as much power as you say they are, can't they keep their own batteries charged?

[AndrewNeo @ Dec 18th 2007 10:12PM]

kev: It's probably not set up to convert energy for its own use, which would be inefficient. I would think it'd be easier to pipe the energy it generates from the waves straight out and use solar panels to keep itself running.

[Eddie @ Dec 18th 2007 6:50PM]

Aquaboy!

Oh no, wait...

[joho @ Dec 18th 2007 8:06PM]

2 megawatts? NYC [5 boros] uses 14,000MW alone......useless

[Nelson @ Dec 18th 2007 10:01PM]

Hmmm... I guess the buoy guys will have to sell them 7,000 wave farms.

Kinda puts it all in perspective. It's not practical, it just makes everyone feel good.

Isn't feeling good what it's all about?

[Semantix @ Dec 19th 2007 1:33PM]

2 MW is just for the initial deployment. They are claiming that they will be able to scale up to a 100 MW plant if all goes well.

I also don't recall them mentioning that they were the answer to New York's power demands. Did I miss that in there somewhere?

RTFA.

[Ryan @ Dec 19th 2007 9:47AM]

Dear Cairn...the power plant is not coal fired, it is natural gas, and being rebuilt with new units capable of burning biodiesel...

2 Mw is absolutely useless...those two old natural gas boilers built in the 50's are putting out over 52 Mw's each...

What a waste of time and money that most Californians will end up paying in increased electricity rates...

[shawn @ Dec 19th 2007 2:28PM]

2Mw is useless? It's 2 more than you had before. What matters more is price per watt compared to the cost of refitting the existing plant or building a second plant.

And of course there's this bit: "...if the initial deployment proves successful, Finavera says it could eventually crank things up to a full 100 megawatts..." Which is roughly the same capacity as "those two old natural gas boilers built in the 50's".

Why burn the fossil fuel at all if you can get the energy from the sea with fewer carbon emissions and avoid price volatility in the fossil fuels market?

[Ravenor @ Dec 19th 2007 12:09AM]

There are already thousands of buoys in the ocean around the world for navigation purposes; I'm not aware of any significant environmental harm from them. So a few thousand power generating buoys won't be a problem. Besides, a lot of people consider man-made objects like piers, jetties, and buoys what make coastal scenery picturesque.

[Eitan @ Dec 19th 2007 1:44AM]

They should install these at Dodger Stadium. Get it? People do the wave there. Get it now?

[skhawaja @ Dec 19th 2007 1:53AM]

As usual stuff like this is 3 years away with much more testing to be done and talks with concerned parties :\

[CaliforniaKid @ Dec 20th 2007 10:44AM]

Good to see progressive thinking. But it's just a matter of time before someone does a "Joseph Hazelton" on that wave farm.